Playing with Fire (7 page)

Slumping at the smallest table in Hardwired, Zoey scowled out at the world. Her nasty look was wasted on the coffee crowd. They were too wrapped up in their lattes and newspapers to notice, but she wanted to hone her evil stare before turning it on her dad's tutor. As far as she was concerned, this guy was not her tutor. He belonged exclusively to her father, who had hired him.

Studying with a tutor was the last thing Zoey wanted to do on a Thursday night. First of all, it wasn't like the classes at Stafford were hard for her. The course load was a joke compared to the
work she'd had to do at boarding school. And second, meeting a tutor was a waste of time. Time that could be spent on more important things—like taking down Alison Rose.

Checking the door again for any sign of a professional nerd, Zoey flipped open her laptop and reread the latest e-mail from Alison.

Zo—

Greetings from study hall. It's so boring here I can feel myself slipping into a coma. People are looking at me like I'm last week's lunch special. Thank GOD you came home from boarding school when you did. I needed a friend. Don't know what I'd do without you.

Love,

A

P.S. Why did you come back, anyway?

“To repay a little debt,” Zoey muttered. Thanks to Kelly and Chad, and her mom's arrest, Alison was in full free fall, and Zoey was the only person in the world she trusted. Ripping away her safety net was going to be easy. And fun. Finally she would know what it was like to be abandoned
at the moment you needed someone the most. Zoey's chest tightened and she took a gulp of her latte, forcing down the scalding-hot liquid along with the painful memory of the loneliest night of her life. The night she had lost so much more than her best friend. She took another, slower sip, letting the hot liquid cool on her tongue.
Focus on the payback,
she reminded herself.

Her old friend was going to go up in flames…like so many other things in Zoey's life. Zoey forced a laugh as images of her last school flickered in her mind. That disaster had been an accident. This one would not be.

“What's so funny?”

Zoey slapped her laptop shut and looked up, prepared to tell the person standing over her to bug off. Then she saw him. He was in college, for sure. Longish hair, vintage jeans, V-neck, easy smile. Totally hot.

“Are you Zoey?” he asked without waiting for an answer to his first question. Zoey nodded dumbly and the guy sat down. “Jeremy.” He held out his hand, and Zoey shook it. Usually she felt dumb shaking hands. But with Jeremy it was okay. His hand was big and warm—not sweaty
or anything, just warm. She felt a tingle make its way up her arm.

“Are you the tutor?” Zoey asked. She was planning to say “my dad's” tutor but didn't. It wasn't this guy's fault her dad was so lame, right? Besides, his good looks were putting her in a forgiving mood.

Jeremy smiled, revealing perfect teeth and dimples. “You got it,” he said. “So what do we need to work on?”

How are you at revenge?
Zoey thought. Aloud she said, “Nothing really. It's not like I'm failing. My dad's just afraid I'm going to get kicked out again.” She hoped that sounded kind of cool.

“Again?” Jeremy didn't miss a trick.

“Fifth time,” Zoey confessed. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the dimples.

“Huh,” Jeremy said, giving Zoey a once-over, then leaning in to study her face. “Cutting class?”

It was a good guess. She had been cutting, kind of. But that wasn't the reason she'd been expelled…this time. For a split second she considered telling him the whole story. Then her sense returned. “Let's just say I was the one who got burned and leave it at that.” Zoey hoped that
would be the end of it. Luckily Jeremy was too smart to press further. Instead he offered to get her something to go with her coffee.

“So how is it being home?” Jeremy asked when he returned with a macchiato and a brownie to share. “How are you doing?”

Zoey swallowed hard and shrugged. Jeremy was the first person who had asked her that since she'd arrived home. “Not great,” Zoey confessed, surprising herself. What was it about this guy that made her jaw flap? “I mean, my brother is acting weird. We used to be close but now we barely speak. My dad is running for Congress, so he's even more uptight than usual. And the only person I hang out with is this girl, Alison Rose, who's—”

“Wait. You mean Helen Rose's daughter?” Jeremy's already big eyes grew bigger. “Wow.” He pushed his thick, dark hair off his forehead and held a handful of it for a minute like she had just told him something amazing.

“Yeah, that Alison Rose.” Zoey sat back and looked at Jeremy in silence. He didn't seem like the stupid starstruck type. What was his deal?

“I, uh, my mom loves Helen Rose stuff,”
Jeremy said quickly, dropping his hand. “You should see my dorm room—everything Helen. But you were saying…”

“Well, Alison and I were supertight in fifth grade—”

“So, what's she like?” Jeremy interrupted. He took a sip of his drink and wiped the steamed milk foam off his lip before leaning even closer.

Zoey was not sure how much she wanted to reveal about Alison or why Jeremy wanted to know. Was he out for the Rose gossip? She had to reel it in a bit. “You know, she's like, a…girl,” she said. She was about to say Alison was “normal,” but that was far from the truth. No one in Alison's family was “normal.” Nor was Jeremy's interest in Alison. “So how do
you
like Silver Spring? You just here for school?” Zoey changed the subject.

Jeremy seemed to understand immediately. “Yeah. School.” He nodded. “And as for Silver Spring…it's got potential.” Jeremy smiled again and all was forgiven. There was something really familiar about his eyes. “So, do you have any homework?” he asked. “Maybe that's a good place to start.”

Kelly switched her cell phone to “silent” before entering Grandmother Diamond's house. Her Highness hated interruptions, especially cell phones. She operated strictly on dinosaur time—no computers, no cell phones, no microwave—nothing that beeped. She could have a smart house if she wanted to, with walls that moved and music that followed you and security up the wazoo. But she preferred hoarding to spending.

“Kelly. You're late.” Grandmother Diamond was sitting in her parlor holding court when Kelly walked in. She looked every bit the queen, swirling a crystal glass of tinkling ice instead of a
scepter. Her loyal subjects were there, too. Well, most of them.

Phoebe and Bill, Kelly's mom and dad, sat at the inlaid gaming table looking like something out of a Brooks Brothers catalog. They held hands and smiled politely, standing to greet their daughter. Kelly knew her mom was hoping she would come kiss her on the cheek to make her look good in front of Her Highness. She also knew if she didn't, her dad would lay into her about it when she got home. But she didn't feel like it, so she waved casually. “Mumsy. Pops.” She smiled as her mother's face fell.

In front of Kelly, Aunt Christine was standing behind the settee scrutinizing her reflection in the huge framed mirror. Probably checking for new lines to shoot with Botox. If she wasn't careful she might reveal an emotion. Pausing in her inspection, Christine turned around. “Nice of you to join us,” she said snidely. Then she leaned in so Kelly could kiss the air near her cheek.

Nice of you to point out I'm late,
Kelly thought. It was already obvious she was the last one to arrive.

Alison had even managed to make it without a driver. She was seated right next to Her Highness, huddling under her wing. A few weeks ago Kelly and Alison would have been speaking in eyebrows and furtive text messages, planning their getaway to the pool house. Tonight, however, her cousin was carefully avoiding her gaze.

“Now that you're finally here, we can go in to dinner…assuming it's not cold.” Grandmother Diamond stood stiffly and led the way to the dining room with the help of a carved gold cane Kelly had never seen before. As far as she knew, her grandmother did not have a problem walking. Probably just for show.

The table was laid with creamy china ringed in gold and set with the full complement of silver. The old stuff, Kelly noticed. Taking her usual seat on her grandmother's left, Kelly arranged her napkin on her lap and her smile on her face. It was time to remind Alison of all she had recently lost. “Aunt Christine, I love those earrings. Are they Harry Winston?” she asked sweetly.

Christine reached up and touched the huge diamonds dangling from her ears as if she had forgotten she was wearing them. “Oh, these. Aren't they divine? They're worth a fortune, of course.”

Kelly glanced at Alison. She was keeping up the stoic thing pretty well. Impressive—and irritating. Her facade needed cracking.

“Those would look amazing with the dress I bought for the autumn formal tomorrow,” Kelly went on. “Don't you think dangly and slinky are perfect together?”

Alison ignored the comment and delicately spooned up a bite of lobster bisque. Her table manners were infuriatingly perfect—far better than Kelly's, as Her Highness liked to remind her.

“I'm sure you'll find something,” Aunt Christine said dismissively.

Kelly scowled. That wasn't the answer she was looking for. “Chad is going to flip when he sees me in that dress,” she said. “You know, it's funny, he's even more excited about this dance than I am.” Before Kelly could survey the damage, her mom piped in and added to it.

“You're going to the dance, too, aren't you, dear?” Phoebe looked at Alison expectantly. Kelly tried not to choke on her soup—this was richer than the bisque. Alison merely shook her head.

“Kelly, do stop slouching.” Her Highness spoiled the mood with the usual tongue-lashing. “It's so unbecoming.”

Kelly straightened but her scowl returned. Couldn't her grandmother leave her alone for one second? And what was it with her and Alison, anyway? They were acting tighter than ever. Did Alison forget it was Her Highness who framed her mom? Didn't she care? Kelly stopped eating. They were hypocrites, both of them. As far as she was concerned, they deserved each other.

Just then one of Tamara's servants came into the dining room and whispered something in her ear. “You'll have to excuse me for a moment,” Tamara said as she got to her feet and walked out of the room. Kelly was extremely curious—it was rare for her grandmother to allow an interruption at mealtime—but Grandmother Diamond's face was a mask.

As soon as the old woman was out of the room, Aunt Christine changed the subject. “I heard you went to see your mother, Alison. How is she?” she said. “Prison must be ghastly.”

Alison paled and stuck a big chuck of bread in her mouth. Kelly recognized the strategy. She was buying time to think. Can't talk with your mouth full.

Alison chewed slowly and thoroughly. “She's doing great,” she finally said. “It's pretty posh there, really, one of those white-collar prisons, you know? Practically a country club. She gets to read a lot and exercise. I think she's even lost a little weight.”

Phoebe clutched her napkin. “Oh, I am so glad to hear that,” she gushed.

Kelly stared at her mom. She was so gullible. Couldn't she see that Alison was lying? The poor girl wasn't even very good at it.

“I have not been sleeping nights worrying about her…and you, Alison,” Kelly's mom went on. She loved to play the good mommy. “I just hope this whole thing will blow over and maybe even bring the family back together.
Perhaps Mother will even put Helen back on the list.”

Kelly's father coughed. “I wouldn't go that far,” he said. Then he glanced at Alison. “Though of course we're all concerned about Helen.” Across the table, Alison was studying her soup again.

Aunt Christine smiled into her napkin. “Yes, very concerned. But I doubt Mother will keep a criminal in her will.”

Kelly bit her tongue to keep from laughing.

“Is that all you can think about?” Grandmother Diamond strode back into the room, her cane never touching the floor. Sitting down, she glared at the people seated at her polished mahogany table—her family. “What I do with my money is my business. If that is all you are here for, you can see yourselves to the door.” She gestured to the foyer on the other side of the archway. When nobody moved, she nodded and took a long drink of wine.

“You are all nothing but a pack of ungrateful, money-grubbing leeches,” she hissed, setting the wineglass down.

“Tamara, we haven't borrowed a cent from you in years,” Kelly's dad tried to defend himself. If she could have reached his knee from where she was sitting, Kelly would have kicked it. It may have been a long time, but Kelly knew her dad had borrowed money in the past, and anyone who had ever accepted a favor from Tamara never escaped Her Highness's debt. Grandmother Diamond kept track of what she was owed more meticulously than the IRS—and that included more than just money.

“No you haven't, have you, Bill?” Grandmother Diamond spoke softly, then went for the kill. “Instead of borrowing what you didn't have, you've charged it and racked up incredible debt that Christine had to bail you out of. You think I don't know? And who do you think will pay it off next time? I hope you aren't planning to saddle my daughter—or my granddaughter—with that when you die. I certainly never would.”

Kelly's dad turned red and went silent.

“Of course, it's your own fault for marrying him,” Grandmother Diamond informed Kelly's mom, who recoiled like a kicked puppy.

“Well, you don't have to worry about
me
. I'm holding my own, Mother.” Aunt Christine used her best “offended” voice and jabbed at her salad with a perfectly polished sterling silver fork. “We're all doing okay, except Little Miss Rose over there. She's the family charity case.” Aunt Christine laughed as if she meant it as a joke. But Kelly could see from Alison's face that the zinger had hit its mark.

“Alison is not a charity case,” Grandmother Diamond chastised her daughter. “Her family has simply fallen on hard times.”

Hard times.
“Thanks to you,” Kelly mumbled just loud enough for Alison to hear. She was furious. She could not believe Grandmother Diamond was taking Alison's side on this. It just didn't make sense to her that Tamara could be mad enough at Helen to mastermind her downfall and yet remain so attached to Alison.

“So how
are
you handling these hard times, Alison? Do you miss your mother very much?” Kelly sat up straight and proper in a perfect imitation of Her Highness. “Of course, you must be furious at whoever turned her in, or framed her. I mean, your mother
is
innocent, right?”

Alison looked straight at Kelly, as expressionless as a professional poker player. “Of course she is. Helen Rose doesn't make mistakes.” The mention of Helen's name in front of Tamara made everyone suck in a little breath. It had been unuttered before Her Highness for so long. And claiming that she didn't make mistakes? What was that? Alison was asking for it.

Kelly seethed silently at Alison's lack of anger. Why wasn't she furious? How could she forgive her grandmother for doing such a horrible thing to her mother? And Grandmother Diamond would be all over her if Kelly made remarks like that…

Slowly it began to dawn on Kelly. Alison was not just seeking out Her Highness's protection, she had the old lady in her pocket. More important, Alison was
not
missing her mother. Nobody knew better than Kelly how much those two fought. Alison had Grandmother Diamond on her side, and whether it was intentional or not, the old bat had done Alison a favor. She'd eliminated Alison's enemy number one. She had gotten rid of monster mom Helen Rose.